


Help Isn't a Four-Letter Word

by remreader



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hospitalization, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, MIT Era, Malnutrition, Sick Tony Stark, Some medical details, Starvation, but nothing graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 23:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18020174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remreader/pseuds/remreader
Summary: Howard Stark's questionable parenting tactics and Tony's refusal to let anyone know he's struggling have dangerous consequences; luckily Rhodey is looking out for his best friend.





	Help Isn't a Four-Letter Word

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post](https://wecollectnightmares.tumblr.com/post/182717164667/poor-little-rich-boy) from tumblr user [wecollectnightmares](https://wecollectnightmares.tumblr.com/):  
> Howard after deciding that Tony needed to stop acting like a child and grow up (act like an adult) cut him off from the family money (WTF Howard he’s only 14). He’s already paid for Tony’s room and meal plan so can’t get that back Tony will just have to man up and get a job and learn to stand on his own two feet.  
> Tony’s meal plan only covers one meal a day, no one wants to hire him. After all, he’s just some poor little rich boy who’s just slumming it, why bother hiring him he probably won’t even turn up.  
> Tony tries his best to find work, any work. But no one wants to hire Howard Stark’s son for one reason or another and his meal plan only stretches so far, and while he’s small he still needs to eat (he’s losing more weight each day.)  
> It takes almost six months before someone notice. Six months before Tony Stark is all but carried into the student health centre by his near-hysterical roommate James Rhodes.

Even for Rhodey, who saw Tony every day, it took a long time to figure out that something was wrong. Tony was the youngest kid at MIT and small for his age at that, and he was usually wearing baggy clothes (often covered by an oversized hoodie “borrowed” from Rhodey) that effectively hid any fluctuation in his weight. And at a school like MIT it was hardly unusual to see students walking around with that exhausted, exists-only-on-coffee-and-anxiety look 24/7. Besides, Rhodey was Tony’s best friend, if there was something wrong Tony would tell him, right?

Rhodey came back to their room after class one day to find Tony curled up on his bed asleep. That in itself wasn’t odd, Tony crashed on Rhodey’s bed all the time, but the fact that it was only two in the afternoon was. When Rhodey gently shook his roommate awake Tony mumbled an apology and something about being too tired to climb up to the top bunk. Now getting a bit worried, Rhodey pulled back Tony’s hoodie so he could get a better look at his face, causing Tony to whimper and complain that he was cold, another alarming detail given how warm it was in their room.

“You don’t look so good, Tones, are you ok?” Rhodey asked in a concerned tone.

“I’m fine.” Tony tried to get up off the bed but standing up that quickly caused his vision to black out and he stumbled dizzily into Rhodey’s arms. Rhodey hugged Tony as he helped sit him back down on the bed and he could feel the faint outline of his friend’s ribs even through his layers of clothing. Tony had always been pretty skinny, but not _that_ skinny. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good.

“Ok, so you’re definitely _not_ fine and I’m taking you to the hospital. Right now.”

Tony was pretty out of it while the nurses and doctors poked and jabbed at him, the frenetic energy and chaos of the ER making his head spin even more and eventually everything just went dark. When he next became aware of his surroundings he was in a hospital room, quiet except for the periodic beep of a heart rate monitor and the rhythmic clicks of an IV pump delivering saline and some sort of thick milky liquid through tubes sticking out of both his arms. He could feel something cool running up his arm and for the first time in months the dull ache was completely gone from his head.

His look of mild confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings was replaced with one of guilt when he looked over and saw Rhodey sitting in a chair next to his bed. Rhodey was reading his beat up paperback copy of _The Right Stuff_ and there were textbooks and papers scattered across the table indicating that he’d been there a long time, long enough at least to need to take a break from studying.

Rhodey heard Tony shifting on the hospital bed and put his book down with a relieved grin. “Hey, you’re awake! How’re you feeling?”

“Um.” Tony’s voice was a bit raspy from lack of use. “Better. Much better.”

“What’s going on, Tony? You’ve been unconscious for hours, they had to give you a blood transfusion and everything, and they were _this_ close to sticking a feeding tube down your throat… I heard some nurses talking out in the hallway, they’re worried you’re anorexic or something…” Rhodey fought to keep his voice from sounding too panicked, he didn’t want to freak Tony out.

Tony’s eyes widened and he shook his head in protest. “No, no it’s nothing like that! It’s all my fault. I-I wasn’t good enough.” Tony explained everything and Rhodey found himself, not for the first time and unfortunately probably not for the last, desperately wishing for an opportunity to punch Howard Stark in the face.

“Jeez, Tones, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped, my mom could’ve sent us food, I could’ve shared my stuff with you…”

Tony sniffed, frustrated tears filling his brown eyes. “I’m not _supposed_ to need help. Supposed to be able to do this on my own.”

“Tony. I’m going to say this as nicely as possible because you’re sick and everything but are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous. You shouldn’t be literally starving to death just because you can’t find a job at _fourteen_. Besides, everybody needs help and I’m your best friend. You’re supposed to tell me when you’re in trouble.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony said in a quiet voice, eyes starting to well up with tears again.

Rhodey sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, you don’t need to be sorry, you should never have had to go through this in the first place. I’m just saying, for a genius prodigy kid you’re also an idiot. Just, don’t ever keep me in the dark like this again. I can’t deal with you almost dying on me.” He reached across the bed and ruffled Tony’s hair fondly. “Now, I think they’re going to keep you here for a few days until you’re a bit stronger. I’ll stay as much as I can. They keep trying to kick me out, like I’m really supposed to leave you alone in here just because _‘official visiting hours’_ are over.” He rolled his eyes, prompting a small smile from Tony in return.

“Three meals a day from now on, buddy, ok?” Tony nodded quietly in response and Rhodey gave his hand a quick reassuring squeeze, carefully avoiding the tape and bandaging holding his IV in place. “Good. Now get some rest. We’ll figure this out together, I promise.”

* * *

_(In the end, Tony and Rhodey work together to set up their own tutoring service, and Rhodey successfully convinces the lab he interns at to hire Tony as an assistant. Rhodey’s mom sends regular care packages through the rest of their time at MIT. Despite Rhodey’s objections, Howard never finds out the harm his little experiment caused and pays off Tony’s hospital bill without inquiring further.)_


End file.
